Public Archives
Sometimes there is a need to publish a version of your email communication as a public web page. Public Archives give you this ability. This is a good solution for newsletters and public announcements. When you enable a public archive of a message, please be sure that it does not contain any private information or personalized links.
Creating an Archive
When Dispatch creates a public archive of message, it takes the first message in the batch and replaces some common member attributes used when rendering the message. Those attributes and the comparable substitutions are:
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| toName, to_name, TO_NAME, name, NAME, academicDDEO, ACADEMICDDEO, or academicddeo | Herky Hawk |
| firstName, first_name, FIRST_NAME, first, or FIRST | Herky |
| lastName, last_name, LAST_NAME, last, or LAST | Hawk |
| toAddress, to_address, or TO_ADDRESS | herky-hawk@uiowa.edu |
| hawkId, hawkID, hawkid, HAWKID, or HAWK_ID | hhawk |
| uid, univid, univID, univId, UNIVID, university_id, or UNIVERSITY_ID | 00000000 |
| courses, COURSES, course, COURSE, inactiveCourses, inactivecourses, or INACTIVECOURSES | ABCD:1234:XYZ1 |
If your communication contains additional keys that need substituted, you should create a separate communication and use a population that contains a single member with cleansed attributes and then publish an archived version of that message.
There are two ways to create a public archive of your communication. The first is when you schedule your communication. On the schedule panel there is an option to Create Public Archive. Once the scheduled communication has finished sending, the public archive will be created and the link will be included in the notification email that is sent to email addresses listed in the Notifications section of the communication edit panel.
When check the box to create a public archive, you have the option to specify how you want the public archive titled. The default naming scheme will use the Campaign name (or alternate campaign name if available) and then the subject line from the communication. You can change the title of the public archive to the communication name or a custom title. You can change the title of a public archive after it is created by visiting the archive page.
The second method to create a public archive for a batch of messages is to view the completed batch. If there is not already a public archive for the batch, then there will be a button at the bottom of the panel that gives you the option to create a public archive.
Viewing an Archive
Once a public archive has been created, an will appear next to the batch. Clicking on it will take you to the public page. If the archive is hidden from public view, the icon will be dimmed. The link to the archive is also present in the email notification that is sent when a batch has completed processing.
The archived message page will contain additional links at the top of the page depending upon what population type was used and if you are logged in or not.
If the message uses a Suppression List, the unsubscribe link will still be present. Clicking on it will not take the visitor to the unsubscribe page, but rather the subscription page (assuming the population is a Subscription List) with a warning message.
Subscribing
If the message originated from a communication with a Subscription Listthat allows public subscribers (Double Opt-In) the link to Subscribe will be present.
Past Issues
If more than one archived message exists for a client, then the link for Past Issues will be present. This will take visitors to a page listing all the visible archived messages for that campaign. There is an additional link at the bottom of the page to direct the visitor to a page of all archived messages for your client ordered by the campaign and date the archive was created.
Past issues for a campaign.
Past issues for a client grouped by client.
RSS Feeds
RSS feeds are available for both the campaign and client views of past issues. These feeds can be subscribed to through standard news feed applications or consumed by your content management system (Drupal, Wordpress, etc.) for display on your website. Links to the feeds can be found in the top-right corner of the Past Issues pages.
Hiding/Showing an Archive
If you wish to no longer have an archive publicly available you can hide it by clicking the Hide Issue link in the top-right corner of the page. Any visitors to that hidden archive will now be redirected to the Past Issues page instead. You can make the page publicly available again by clicking the Show Issue link.